My Business Excellencehttps://mybusinessexcellence.com
Business Excellence for SME's - The My Business Excellence Framework and portal has been designed to help SME's implement business excellence like nothing beforeThu, 19 Mar 2020 10:26:36 +0000en-US
hourly
1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1The New Normal: Social distancing and quarantines are here to stay for the foreseeable futurehttps://mybusinessexcellence.com/the-new-normal-social-distancing-and-quarantines-are-here-to-stay-for-the-foreseeable-future/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/the-new-normal-social-distancing-and-quarantines-are-here-to-stay-for-the-foreseeable-future/#respondThu, 19 Mar 2020 06:35:18 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=2339Everyone is coming to terms with Coronavirus and what it’ll mean for themselves and their businesses. Change creates that double-edged sword of opportunity and risk. Capitalising on opportunities and mitigating risks is what a good strategy is all about. However, before we begin to look to the future, we must first understand the current situation […]

]]>Everyone is coming to terms with Coronavirus and what it’ll mean for themselves and their businesses. Change creates that double-edged sword of opportunity and risk. Capitalising on opportunities and mitigating risks is what a good strategy is all about. However, before we begin to look to the future, we must first understand the current situation and how long it’s likely to be with us.

Many people seem to have formed the view that the isolation we are going through is a 3 to 6-month prospect. The Singapore government is currently saying 12 months. Unfortunately, when reviewing the situation and latest literature I’ve come to the conclusion we’re likely stuck with social distancing and quarantine measures for much longer. How much longer? Until we have a vaccine that can be effectively distributed… Best guess? 18 months.

So quarantine and social distancing is ‘The New Normal’.

My view has numerous assumptions which I’ll unpack below. Let me know if I’ve made a mistake (I’d love to be wrong!).

For the coronavirus to burn out by itself we need to collectively develop herd immunity. What is herd immunity? Here is the definition straight from Wikipedia.

Herd immunity (also called herd effect, community immunity, population immunity, or social immunity) is a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through infection or vaccination.

So the two pathways to end the pandemic are a vaccine or immunity through infection. Immunity through infection has received much press recently in the world’s media as a strategy initially being pursued by the UK government. The plan was to allow the more resilient UK citizens to get infected while protecting the high-risk citizens to hopefully build a level of herd immunity quickly. The UK government has since publicly backtracked away from this approach.

An indicative figure for effective herd immunity is 70% immunity within the population. So, 70% of a population needs to have been infected and survived to provide sufficient immunity for the pandemic to end. The problem is, and the thing that stopped the UK from implementing such a strategy, is the relatively high proportion of hospitalisation and critical care required for people infected by the coronavirus. Hospitals will be overwhelmed unless we aggressively suppress transmission via quarantine and social distancing to reduce the number of cases occurring at any one time to a relative trickle. Unfortunately, this suppression approach will require a long time for Herd Immunity to be reached. So long in fact that we’re likely to have a vaccine before we get there…

Let’s take Australia as an example –

Australian Population

24,600,000

Population infected to achieve Herd Immunity (assume requires 70%)

17,220,000

Number of infected people who will show symptoms (70% of population)

12,054,000

Number of symptomatic people that will require hospitalisation (20%)

2,410,800

Number of hospitalised people that will require intensive care in ICU (30%)

723,240

Total Days in an ICU required (assume 5 days per IC person, so 5 x ICU cases)

3,616,200

Days filling available ICU beds at capacity (assume 4000 ICU beds)

904.05

Years

2.48

So assuming we completely max out all available ICU beds in Australia (and this is ICU beds at short-term surge levels; who knows if we can maintain that number longer term) and use them with 100% efficiency (which is obviously impossible) it’ll still take almost 2.5 years to reach 70% immunity within the Australian population.

We can shorten the time by increasing the infection rate and overwhelm our hospitals or we can maintain high levels of social distancing and quarantine and hope a vaccine comes sooner rather than later… Which I suspect is the approach most countries will follow.

So as a business leader, please don’t assume you can hold off the current situation and just outlast this pandemic. You must embrace change and formulate a strategy that will allow you to survive and hopefully thrive in what will become the new normal.

At MBE, we help business leaders build world-class businesses. We address strategic and operational weaknesses within each business through a systemic approach to business excellence designed exclusively for small to medium businesses.

]]>https://mybusinessexcellence.com/the-new-normal-social-distancing-and-quarantines-are-here-to-stay-for-the-foreseeable-future/feed/0Your Business Case for implementing Excellencehttps://mybusinessexcellence.com/your-business-case-for-implementing-excellence/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/your-business-case-for-implementing-excellence/#commentsFri, 14 Feb 2020 02:30:05 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=1509Implement excellence in your business - the business case is available for free download

Business Excellence results when, championed by the CEO, a business implements a proven holistic approach for business transformation involving all employees. Over time, every aspect of the business is impacted for the better.

We have put together the business case for implementing full Business Excellence properly in any small to medium business. Based on hundreds of case studies, the analysis is rigorous and can be tailored instantly to your business via your current annual Sales revenue. You will be excited about the massive potential Net Benefits for your business.

Your case will reflect the documented results of previous implementations from around the world. In interpreting that data, we have deliberately and conservatively understated the projected Net Benefits for your business. As you will see, these Net Benefits are nonetheless substantial.

When reading and evaluating your own case, please bear in mind that:

The predicted Net Benefits are ‘Net’ of all external and internal costs of the required ongoing implementation.

For a small to medium business (SME / SMB) to be successful relatively quickly and at low cost, the traditional consultant-led implementation approach designed for large businesses must be simplified, fully integrated and properly sequenced, and be supported by a comprehensive on-line toolset.

The five Prerequisites that must be implemented and totally integrated with respect to each other, with Customer Delight throughout, are described here. The recommended approach ensures that the integration of the five Prerequisites happens automatically as the implementation proceeds.

Interested in what all this means for your business? Click here for your free download.

PS: If you would like to become fully informed about the My Business Excellence (MBE) approach complete with its detailed ‘How To’ instructions, you can purchase the book ‘GOING ALL IN – How to implement Excellence in your business’ by Mark Rehn and Mark James available here.

]]>https://mybusinessexcellence.com/your-business-case-for-implementing-excellence/feed/4Book ‘GOING ALL IN – How To Implement Excellence In Your Business’https://mybusinessexcellence.com/book-going-all-in-how-to-implement-excellence-in-your-business/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/book-going-all-in-how-to-implement-excellence-in-your-business/#respondFri, 31 Jan 2020 04:44:51 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=1141Book of instruction on implementing excellence in business

This long awaited book by Mark Rehn and Mark James is now available here. It contains detailed HOW TO instructions for full implementation of excellence and is designed for small to medium businesses and management consultants alike. We wrote the book because the traditional approach to implementation in SMEs / SMBs facilitated by external management consultants is flawed and way beyond the resource capability of the vast majority of these businesses.

As a result, only about 1 percent of SMEs / SMBs are actively pursuing operational plus strategic excellence simultaneously and reaping the immense net benefits. It’s time to change that with the practical, low cost approach presented in this book. Depending on your current internal capabilities, you can choose to engage the right level of support for your transformational journey towards true business excellence and world class performance.

The book provides copious examples and case studies to illustrate various aspects of the implementation methodology. For the first time, the techniques needed to fully integrate the five big Prerequisites for excellence are described in detail. With Customer Focus throughout, the five Prerequisites for every business are as follows…

Process Design and Improvement – often referred to as ‘process management’

Shared Strategic Direction – often referred to as ‘strategic planning and execution’

Performance Measurement and Feedback – often referred to as ‘performance management’

Knowledge Capture and Leverage – often referred to as ‘knowledge management’

]]>https://mybusinessexcellence.com/book-going-all-in-how-to-implement-excellence-in-your-business/feed/0Definition Of Business Excellencehttps://mybusinessexcellence.com/definition-of-business-excellence/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/definition-of-business-excellence/#respondThu, 30 Jan 2020 08:09:57 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=957Business Excellence is defined simply as: An integrated collection of proven practices for how a business should operate to become the best it can possibly be – i.e. world class. It is applicable to all businesses whether private or public, for-profit or not-for-profit and small or large. Of course it yields substantial net financial benefits. […]

]]>Business Excellence is defined simply as: An integrated collection of proven practices for how a business should operate to become the best it can possibly be – i.e. world class.

It is applicable to all businesses whether private or public, for-profit or not-for-profit and small or large. Of course it yields substantial net financial benefits.

Business Excellence involves improving customer outcomes and increasing productivity through the organisation’s key processes and is driven by organisational leadership and management.

More than just another “buzz phrase”, business excellence underpins any successful company’s strategy and growth.

If you want to take your business productivity and growth to new heights, you’ll need to implement a practical framework and proven approach for business excellence.

Despite the Simple Definition, the Confusion for SMEs / SMBs is Understandable

Other popular collections of proven practices advocated over the past 70 years include World Competitive Manufacturing, Just In Time, Best Practice, Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, Agile, Business Improvement, Process Improvement, Business Transformation and Lean Thinking. All of these overlap significantly with each other, and fit within the umbrella term ‘Business Excellence’. These are all partial solutions, not a complete solution for any business wishing to become the best it can possibly be in the shortest possible timeframe and at the lowest possible cost.

Not surprisingly, CEOs of SMEs / SMBs can get confused as to which methodology and language they should adopt.

Even within Business Excellence there are slight variations around the world regarding the fundamental criteria for success. For example, Singapore, Australia and the United States promote 7-8 assessment criteria for Business Excellence, whereas the Europeans promote 9 criteria.

Common Core of Business Excellence globally

Fortunately, all of the 80 or so active national Frameworks / Models have a common core.

This core may be summarised as 5 logical and memorable Prerequisites for SMEs / SMBs seeking a practical implementation approach that is easy to understand. Not surprisingly, the overriding driver of all 5 Prerequisites (see below) is Customer Delight for both internal and external customers.

Process Design & Improvement

Shared Strategic Direction

Performance Measurement & Feedback

Knowledge Capture & Leverage

Leadership & Management of Change

Implementation of these Prerequisites in the right order maximises the return on investment. It eliminates the possibility of false starts and poorly focused efforts. To avoid much wasted effort, it is critical for these Prerequisites to become fully integrated with respect to each other as their implementation progresses.

]]>https://mybusinessexcellence.com/definition-of-business-excellence/feed/0How To Implement Business Excellence In An SME / SMBhttps://mybusinessexcellence.com/business-excellence-fast-low-cost/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/business-excellence-fast-low-cost/#respondThu, 30 Jan 2020 03:12:51 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=962When it comes to implementing business excellence, SMEs / SMBs are not just small versions of large businesses. They require a much simpler and more direct ‘hands-on’ way of implementing excellence for maximum return on investment. The traditional large company approach of engaging external management consultants to facilitate comprehensive implementation is simply not feasible for […]

]]>When it comes to implementing business excellence, SMEs / SMBs are not just small versions of large businesses. They require a much simpler and more direct ‘hands-on’ way of implementing excellence for maximum return on investment.

The traditional large company approach of engaging external management consultants to facilitate comprehensive implementation is simply not feasible for most SMEs / SMBs. And so it is not surprising that less than about 1% of them globally are following that traditional expensive route. The remaining 99% are not realising the immense net benefits of properly implementing business excellence. A new, much more cost-effective approach is sorely needed.

Arguably, the most important Prerequisite is Process Design & Improvement. Since all work is done through processes, this is an essential competency for any SME / SMB wishing to realise business excellence.

You begin by agreeing all your Key Processes and depicting them as a 1-page ‘Process Model’ of your entire business operation.

With Customer Delight as the fundamental driver of everything, every Key Process needs to be improved continuously plus completely ‘reengineered’ every 7 years or so. This ensures that no Key Process is ever allowed to get more than 7 years out of date. Unsurprisingly, process reengineering usually requires major upgrades to the associated enabling technologies (IT, AI, robotics etc). By this means, you can avoid being blind-sided by disruptive competitors and technologies.

For each Key Process, a willing part-time Process Manager (employee, not consultant) sponsors all of their process improvement projects pertinent to their assigned Key Process. These process improvement projects are planned and implemented by small, part-time autonomous teams using the simple techniques provided.

These process improvement projects are of two types…

Occasional ‘top down’ large Business Process Reengineering projects

Frequent ‘bottom up’ small Fast Process Improvement projects that are implemented on a quarter by quarter basis

Combined, these process improvement projects generate most of the huge Net benefits of business excellence.

The second most important Prerequisite in the sequence is Shared Strategic Direction. Sharing is essential to align the efforts of all employees in pursuing the business Vision and in delivering the strategic Objectives.

Key employees lead small, cross-functional teams to deliver each Strategic Objective in full via quarterly projects identified and sponsored by each Process Manager. The 1-page Strategic Plan is reviewed by the Management Team every month to keep it current.

The third Prerequisite in the sequence is Performance Measurement & Feedback. There are only two types of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for your business as a whole…

KPIs for the operational health of each Key Process. These show how well you are RUNNING your business.

KPIs for the delivery of each Strategic Objective. These show how well you are CHANGING you business.

Via these KPIs, the My Business Excellence platform enables you to track your business performance visually every month and hence trigger corrective action if and when necessary.

The fourth Prerequisite in the sequence is Knowledge Capture & Leverage. This is crucial today because business assets have become more knowledge-based and need to be shared. And since all work is done through processes, employees need the best available knowledge ‘on tap’ to execute their job processes brilliantly!

And so the idea is to capture the latest knowledge in digital form, and then attach it to individual process steps to build progressively your graphical Quality Management System (QMS). Your QMS thus becomes the repository for your organisation’s best practices. A graphical QMS is of course far better for training and recall purposes than a traditional text-based QMS. The MBE platform provides detailed instructions for how to do this effectively at the lowest possible cost.

The fifth and final Prerequisite in the sequence is Leadership & Management of CHANGE. Leadership is emotional and Management is clinical. With poor Leadership, you will lose your best people. With poor Management (e.g. for management of cash), financial collapse may be triggered. You need a healthy balance of leadership and management to ensure optimal business performance.

Although this is listed here as the fifth Prerequisite, it actually needs to ‘overlap’ all four preceding Prerequisites. The ability to lead and manage change needs to be ‘built in’ to everything that happens with implementation of the MBE approach to excellence. By the time you get to this fifth Prerequisite for the first time (well within Year 1), you and your people will already be quite adept at leading and managing change. Therefore, in this final Prerequisite, the focus moves to the more advanced aspects of leading and managing change, including how to sustain a continuous improvement culture.

Key to this is for the management team to have (or develop) a collective leadership style which encourages employees to be empowered by working in small autonomous project teams.

]]>https://mybusinessexcellence.com/business-excellence-fast-low-cost/feed/0Business Excellence For Small & Medium Businesses (SMEs / SMBs)https://mybusinessexcellence.com/business-excellence-implementation/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/business-excellence-implementation/#respondThu, 30 Jan 2020 02:55:54 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=961Market penetration of Business Excellence in the huge SME / SMB sector of the global economy is less than about 1 percent. It’s time to change that. We need to change the way we implement business excellence in Small and Medium Businesses. SMEs / SMBs are NOT just small versions of big businesses. They require […]

]]>Market penetration of Business Excellence in the huge SME / SMB sector of the global economy is less than about 1 percent. It’s time to change that.

We need to change the way we implement business excellence in Small and Medium Businesses. SMEs / SMBs are NOT just small versions of big businesses. They require a simpler, faster and lower cost way of implementing excellence.

The standard big business approach of engaging a team of consultants to facilitate comprehensive implementation is not financially feasible for most SMEs / SMBs. Largely as a result, approx. 99% of them are missing out on the benefits of full business excellence. This represents a huge opportunity cost for any national economy.

Proven Net Benefits

We know that when implemented well, the benefits of implementing business excellence are immense. Documented case studies since the 1950s confirm that net benefits over 5 years add up to at least 22.5% of this year’s Sales. Even in Year 1, ‘quick win’ improvements generate net benefits greater than 1.5% of Sales.

These massive net benefits ought to be a major incentive for any SME / SMB to get started.

Widespread CEO Resistance to date

However, in spite of these proven net benefits, the CEOs of SMEs / SMBs frequently cite several reasons for why they are NOT currently pursuing excellence in a holistic, structured manner…

The Solution to achieving Business Excellence

So, what can be done to overcome these perceived major perceived ‘barriers to entry’ for SMEs / SMBs?

Answer: Develop and market an entirely new way of implementing full business excellence that redresses all the above significant barriers perceived by the CEOs.

Challenging Performance Brief

To be successful, that new way should satisfy all the following stringent performance criteria…

Be consistent with the proven international frameworks and criteria for business excellence

NOT involve prohibitive amounts of external consulting assistance

NOT need a comprehensive up-front assessment of the business before real implementation starts

Be well understood and led from the top

Use simple, common language that everyone can understand

Generate quick wins

Do the right things right and in the right sequence

Provide detailed step-by-step instructions for the entire journey

Integrate every aspect of the implementation as it proceeds

Involve all employees

Ensure accountability for individual and collective critical actions

Visually track the resultant business impacts every month via the right strategic KPIs plus operational KPIs

Quantify the net benefits of completed improvement projects

Be applicable to any SME / SMB in any service industry

Be accessible via the Internet at low cost

The good news

Such a simple, integrated and carefully sequenced approach designed exclusively for SMEs / SMBs is now available. It has been developed by the My Business Excellence (MBE) team based on 37 years of management consulting assistance provided to over 1,000 clients implementing various aspects of business excellence. Details of this approach can be accessed here.

This pragmatic approach to excellence is a proven way to build a high performing SME / SMB business.

]]>https://mybusinessexcellence.com/business-excellence-implementation/feed/0How long will it take to recoup our investment in the My Business Excellence approach?https://mybusinessexcellence.com/how-long-will-it-take-to-recoup-your-investment-in-business-excellence/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/how-long-will-it-take-to-recoup-your-investment-in-business-excellence/#respondSat, 25 Jan 2020 03:49:09 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=967Not long! The benefits from your first few Fast Process Improvement (FPI) projects conducted during your first year will far exceed all your associated internal and external costs. Their average benefit to cost ratio will exceed 10 : 1. And you will complete at least 15 more such Fast Process Improvement projects every year thereafter! […]

]]>Not long! The benefits from your first few Fast Process Improvement (FPI) projects conducted during your first year will far exceed all your associated internal and external costs. Their average benefit to cost ratio will exceed 10 : 1. And you will complete at least 15 more such Fast Process Improvement projects every year thereafter!

And it doesn’t stop there. The resultant net benefits will further compound due to delivery in full of your Strategic Plan plus the occasional big Business Process Reengineering (BPR) project plus a myriad of other day-to-day operational efficiencies realised through your on-going process improvement techniques.

]]>https://mybusinessexcellence.com/how-long-will-it-take-to-recoup-your-investment-in-business-excellence/feed/0Keeping Your Strategic Plan Currenthttps://mybusinessexcellence.com/keeping-strategic-plan-current/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/keeping-strategic-plan-current/#respondWed, 22 Jan 2020 22:19:34 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=1013Any strategic plan can quickly become out of date as business circumstances change. For this reason, many pundits suggest that strategic planning is dead. But they are dead wrong! Sound strategic planning is essential to the success of every business. It is the vehicle for determining which market segments to play in and how to […]

]]>Any strategic plan can quickly become out of date as business circumstances change. For this reason, many pundits suggest that strategic planning is dead. But they are dead wrong!

Sound strategic planning is essential to the success of every business. It is the vehicle for determining which market segments to play in and how to win in those segments. It also enables the resultant set of strategic objectives to be translated into concrete short term actions for the accountable staff.

So how can the plan – which might have been great at the time of its first formulation – be kept up to date in the face of changing circumstances?

Clearly, if your strategic plan is to work (i.e. be delivered in full), you must have a mechanism for reviewing and updating it regularly. Here is the best way we have found to do this with the minimum of effort and with full accountability of the relevant staff for making progress:

Begin by formulating your 1,2,3 or 5 year Strategic Plan graphically on a single page with 7 or less Strategic Objectives.

At your monthly Management Team meeting, quickly review the current validity of your 1-page Strategic Plan, agree and make any necessary changes.

At each 12-month anniversary of your inaugural Strategic Plan, conduct a 1-day workshop with your Management Team to review and formally roll forward your Strategic Plan by 12 months.

At the beginning of each quarter, conduct a ‘Quarterly Project Meeting’ of all Process Managers and have them review the Projects that should have been completed in the immediate past quarter. Next, have them each formulate one new quarterly Project that best involves their assigned Key Process in contributing towards a relevant strategic Objective. Then decide how many of these Projects can be resourced via small autonomous teams comprised of personnel with a vested interest in the Project. Finalise the Project choices. Finally, the Project Managers complete their respective 1-page Project Briefs.

Following the Quarterly Preview Meeting, each Project Manager briefs their nominated team that in turn conducts their 2-hour Project Planning Workshop. Then each Project team completes their Project by the end of the quarter.

]]>https://mybusinessexcellence.com/keeping-strategic-plan-current/feed/0Bridging The Chasm Between Strategy And Executionhttps://mybusinessexcellence.com/bridging-the-chasm-between-strategy-and-execution/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/bridging-the-chasm-between-strategy-and-execution/#commentsWed, 22 Jan 2020 04:01:14 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=1043Bridging the Chasm between strategy and execution is a feature of our methodology for implementing Business Excellence. The following snippet is from an insightful blog by Doug Sundheim, and explains why more than 60% of all strategic plans fail to be implemented: POOR EXECUTION! “The implication is obvious — strategists and executors must work together better […]

]]>Bridging the Chasm between strategy and execution is a feature of our methodology for implementing Business Excellence. The following snippet is from an insightful blog by Doug Sundheim, and explains why more than 60% of all strategic plans fail to be implemented: POOR EXECUTION!

“The implication is obvious — strategists and executors must work together better to bridge these two worlds. It’s common sense. Unfortunately, it’s far from common practice. What typically happens is an awkward hand-off between the two. In the worst cases the strategists adopt an elitist, disconnected mindset: We’re the idea people, someone else will make it happen. They don’t bother to truly understand what it takes to implement the ideas. They don’t engage the executors early and ask, “How will this actually work?” The executors contribute to the trouble as well. Often they don’t truly understand the thinking behind the strategy. They take it at face value and don’t ask enough tough questions.”

The problem of operational precedence

When a business strategy is formulated, key people are usually nominated to be accountable for implementing each objective. And actions are usually scheduled to deliver each objective. However, the people nominated rarely end up executing the scheduled action plans because their day-to-day operational tasks take precedence. The strategy therefore becomes out of date shortly after the strategy is formulated. And the lost ground is never made up!

Here is how we overcome this problem…

Every month, aided by the automated tools of our online Platform, progress against each strategic Objective is reviewed via its agreed KPI(s) for measuring progressive achievement. By means of the graphical dashboard in the Platform, the management team can instantly assess overall progress being made towards the 1-3 year Strategic Plan.

Progress towards delivery of each Objective is made every quarter. At the beginning of the quarter, the Process Managers of all the organization’s agreed Key Processes meet together to target quarterly Projects that are implemented by small autonomous teams. They each nominate one Project that involves their own assigned Key Process and would contribute towards delivery of a strategic Objective. They then decide collectively which Projects can be resourced with available manpower during the immediate quarter. As a general guide, we recommend that no individual employee should be nominated for more than one quarterly Project at any one time. This avoids personal overload.

For those Projects that ‘make the cut’, the Process Managers each prepare a 1-page Project Brief that includes nomination of the part-time members of the small Project teams. These teams are autonomous as they plan and execute their assigned Projects during the quarter.

At the next quarterly meeting, the Process Managers review the Projects that had been scheduled for completion the previous quarter.

This combination of quarterly and monthly reviews of progress ensures that the chasm between strategy formulation and strategy execution does not eventuate.

And the reward and recognition system also needs to change

A critical part of the Excellence Leader’s role is to ensure that execution of the Strategic Plan is at least as high a priority for everyone as the day-to-day operational issues. The performance of the management team should be assessed accordingly and reflected in the reward and recognition system.

]]>https://mybusinessexcellence.com/bridging-the-chasm-between-strategy-and-execution/feed/2The Steps To Implement Business Excellence In Your SME / SMBhttps://mybusinessexcellence.com/the-steps-to-implement-business-excellence-in-your-sme/
https://mybusinessexcellence.com/the-steps-to-implement-business-excellence-in-your-sme/#respondTue, 21 Jan 2020 01:54:02 +0000https://mybusinessexcellence.com/?p=956The My Business Excellence (MBE) Framework is for any SME / SMB that wishes to become high performing in the shortest possible time. It comprises five Prerequisites for excellence, all driven by the need to ensure Customer Delight in everything. [Purchase a copy of the book: ‘GOING ALL IN – How To Implement Excellence In […]

]]>The My Business Excellence (MBE) Framework is for any SME / SMB that wishes to become high performing in the shortest possible time. It comprises five Prerequisites for excellence, all driven by the need to ensure Customer Delight in everything. [Purchase a copy of the book: ‘GOING ALL IN – How To Implement Excellence In Your Business’ if you would like the comprehensive implementation roadmap.]

Implementation Challenge

How can you convert these five high level Prerequisites into concrete action?

Unfortunately, most business CEOs and their employees spend almost all their time working IN the business. To implement business excellence and reap the huge rewards, you and your colleagues need to work ON the business for some of the time. By following our MBE approach, the completed process improvement projects free up time, which allows you and your people to spend even more time working ON the business. This feedback loop makes things easier and easier.

So the hard part is to get started and build momentum.

The Four Phases of Implementation

The fast track to excellence requires four distinct implementation phases. The first three phases rapidly build the capability necessary for successful transformation of your business, and take place over the first two years. We help our customers execute these first three phases, during which substantial net benefits are realised – even within the first 12 months.

Phase 1: FOUNDATION (3 months)

The FOUNDATION phase is critical because it sets up the five Prerequisites for excellence ready for implementation and full integration in the subsequent phases.

The CEO must be fully committed and prepared to lead the charge. Furthermore, the CEO and other people in managerial roles need to have (or develop) a collective leadership style that empowers employees to work in small autonomous teams to get things done. If you have an ‘autocratic’ (does TO people) or ‘hero’ (does FOR people) leadership style and you are not prepared to change, then this approach is not for you or your business. The ideal leadership style is either ‘coach’ (does WITH people) or ‘enabler’ (does THROUGH people). Success with the MBE approach is dependent on getting all your people excited about and engaged in improving the business.

SMEs / SMBs that don’t have a formal and dynamic strategy have no chance of becoming excellent performers. Businesses that DO formulate a strategy but don’t follow through, ensuring key stakeholders take ownership and the proper infrastructure is in place, are likely to have their strategy gather dust. We enable you to do it differently. Developed during a 2-day workshop involving your management team, your strategic plan is depicted graphically on a single page. Depending on the perceived rate of change in your industry, the time horizon for your strategic plan may be 1,2,3 or 5 years out.

Strategy formulation is only part of what must happen during the 2-day strategic planning workshop. In addition, the business develops a 1-page process view of its entire business operation. All work in your business is done through its processes. The agreed 1-page Process Model depicts all the Key Business Processes (for external Customers) plus all the Key Support Processes (for internal Customers = your own employees). A willing part-time Process Manager is assigned to each one.

In all subsequent phases, the assigned Process Managers are accountable for deploying the strategic Objectives and for effecting local process improvements via measurable quarterly Projects. For this reason, special emphasis during the FOUNDATION phase is placed on training the nominated Process Managers in their crucial part-time role. Time is also devoted to finalising the right KPIs for each Objective and each Key Process.

Key Points

Run your strategy workshop at the beginning of Phase 1 and develop a clear roadmap of what you’re going to achieve over the 2 year transition period, plus the steps to get there! NOTE: You will review your strategy and its KPIs every month, and you will formally roll the strategy forward once every year. Your strategy will need to change over time, but that’s no excuse not having one to guide your journey. The main deliverables of this strategy workshop are your 1-Page Process Model for Running Your Business and your 1-Page Strategy for Changing Your Business.

Ensure your key people have ownership of the Key Processes within your business and understand their crucial roles as Process Managers.

Make sure you have the right infrastructure for performance reporting, project management and knowledge management. Without it, you’re going to have to work much harder each month to measure your progress and document your process changes in the subsequent Phases.

Get buy-in from all employees and the board if applicable. This is your shared strategic direction. Everyone must commit to and actively participate in its delivery.

Finalise the set of KPIs for strategic Objectives and for all Key Processes.

Phase 2: LAUNCH (9 months)

During this LAUNCH Phase, the rubber hits the road. You begin to execute your Strategic Plan in full.

The Process Managers of your Key Support Processes are the main drivers of progress, backed up by the Process Managers of your Key Business Processes.

In this phase you’ll begin to build momentum and realise positive net benefits within just a few months. Efficiencies gained through quarterly Fast Process Improvement (FPI) projects will free up time for the participating staff so they can spend even more time working on the business, freeing up even more time. Exciting Stuff.

Importantly, the benefits generated by the end of Year 1 will be well in excess of all internal and external implementation costs.

Key Points

Your Process Managers are the engine room for implementing business excellence. They need to be trained for success and held accountable by you, the CEO.

Employees are trained in fast process improvement techniques.

Throughout this LAUNCH Phase, your Objectives begin to be deployed via an increasing number of targeted, top-down quarterly Projects sponsored by a few of the Process Managers. Each Process Manager chooses and defines their quarterly Project(s) to best contribute to delivery of one strategic Objective.

The average Benefit : Cost ratio for these quarterly Projects should exceed 10 : 1 and the efficiencies gained will help free up your company’s resources to make further improvements.

Provided your business has more than 50 full time employees, you’ll trigger your first major Business Process Reengineering Project during this phase.

Each month a Progress Review Meeting will occur to review the progress of each quarterly Project, Key Processes and their respective KPIs to ensure everything remains on track.

Each quarter a Planning Meeting will occur to review the strategic Objectives and select new quarterly Projects to further progress your strategic Objectives.

By means of a 1-day Strategic Planning Workshop held at the end of Year 1, your 1-page Strategic Plan will be formally reviewed and rolled forward to reflect any major changes required.

Phase 3: GROWTH (Year 2)

In this GROWTH phase, you will accelerate penetration of the knowledge and skills needed to implement the approach. Many more of your employees will become actively engaged with the same techniques already introduced in Phases 1 and 2. Your leaders will continue to nurture and empower their employees using these proven techniques.

Many experts estimate it takes years to instil a new culture, particularly in very large businesses. However, our MBE techniques designed for SMEs enable a culture of continuous improvement to be instilled much faster. By the end of Year 2, you will be well on your way because most of your employees will have been actively involved each quarter in improving the processes of the business and progressively achieving the strategic Objectives.

Key points

Dependent on the number of Key Processes in the business, the number of quarterly Projects undertaken in this phase will be limited by the available people resources but certainly will be far greater than the number of projects completed in the preceding LAUNCH Phase.

Your quarterly Projects will comprise a mixture of top-down strategy deployment projects selected by your Process Managers and bottom-up process improvement projects recommended by your employees at the coal face of operations and sponsored by their respective Process Manager.

You will also undertake one or two large, top-down Business Process Reengineering Projects.

By the end of this Phase, you will see a culture of continuous improvement beginning to flourish within your business as employees throughout your business take ownership of improvement initiatives.

At the end of Year 2, your 1-page Strategic Plan will again be formally reviewed and rolled forward during a 1-day Strategic Planning Workshop to reflect any major changes required.

Phase 4: CONSOLIDATION (beyond Year 2)

This ongoing phase is about maintaining what you have and institutionalising the approach so that it becomes ‘Business As Usual’. You will continue to deploy your strategic Objectives via carefully chosen quarterly projects executed by small autonomous teams. Almost all your employees will have become actively engaged.

By the end of Year 2, you will be well on the way to being a high performing business with runs on the board. And you’re likely be regarded as a leader in your industry.

Overall cumulative Net Savings of at least 22.5% of this year’s Sales Revenue should accrue by rigorously following this approach.

Summary

Some might baulk at the 2-year timeframe outlined above. However, if you look at the results over those two years –

Successfully executing your strategy

Significant productivity gains through lots of Fast Process Improvement Projects, with an average ROI of at least 10 to 1.

Massive productivity gains and new IT capabilities added through Process Reengineering

A culture of continuous improvement

Overall cumulative net savings over 5 years of at least 22.5% of this year’s Sales revenue. Forecast these savings for your business. For example, a business currently turning over say $50M per annum, will save at least $11.2M over the next 5 years with this implementation approach. This is too much for you or your shareholders to ignore.

Building a high performing business does not happen overnight, but with the systematic, step by step process outlined above and detailed in the book, you will get there. Read More>